Seems to me that this is primarily an issue of getting the tune into your head. I agree that it's a whole lot easier to get a melody in your head when you learn it from another person. Obviously you're learning with your ears in that case while with learning from a book you're learning with your eyes.
If I learn a tune from a book and then play it out at a jam or on stage, I find that if I haven't internalized it enough I'm apt to start seeing the sheet music and will play it by "reading" it. If I learn a tune to where I can hum it then I've got it and can do something with it. I love tune books and have a whole lot. I learn stuff from books all the time. I'd say that if the tunes you're working on start feeling like work that's telling you to turn the page to another tune not shut the book necessarily :^). It is a matter of practice as you say but I think it's also a matter of choosing the material that makes you want to practice it. Just my $.02 MinnesotaMandolin wrote: > Hey all-- > > I'm curious how others handle this dilemma of mine, or if it's even an > issue. When I practice tunes out of books (my primary books are the > Phillips vol. 1, O'Neils music of Ireland and the Fiddler's Fakebook) > I struggle to make the tune sound "informal." I have a classical > background, on guitar and the oboe, and it's hard for me to play off > of sheet music without sounding like a presentation. > > When I learn a song from a person, I don't have this problem. Same > with the handful of tunes I've written. But out of the dozens of tunes > I've worked on out of books, only a few don't sound like a recital > when I play them. I've actually hit a point where the fiddle tune > books aren't that much more fun than exercise books, for how stiff > they can sound under my fingers. I keep coming back to them though, > because I figure it's good for me to work on 'em anyway. I also got a > few classical mandolin books so I could read through some sheet music > and be happy with the "formality" of my playing. > > I got a hunch the answer to my question is "practice," but I wonder if > anyone has some other tips or suggestions. > > I normally don't think of myself as a stiff player, but most of my > focus is on creating rhythm parts for the original songs my band does. > > On a related note, how do folks decide to "set" a tune where all the > information that might be available about it is its title and the name > of the fiddler the book's author collected the song from? > > just curious, > > erik > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
